Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Copyright 1999. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materials which are subject to copyright protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all rights, copyright rights whatsoever.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to surveillance equipment and systems; and more particularly, to a fixed position housing assembly using a ballistic lens for housing surveillance equipment components including the surveillance camera which housing permits the continuous adjustment of the camera within the housing to overcome non vertical and non horizontal mounting positions, provides a replaceable shield for the ballistic lens and provides a tilt and pan bracket that substantially encloses the wiring connecting the camera to the surveillance system.
2. Background Information
Closed circuit video surveillance equipment is very useful and well established. For instance, video cameras can be installed throughout a facility such as a perimeter and public areas, places of business, parking lots, hospitals, government buildings, etc. A central command center is provided for selecting, displaying and recording of an output of any given video camera of the installed cameras. Thus, a small number of security personnel stationed at a central command center can officially monitor an entire facility by selecting, displaying and recording the output of any given camera.
Video surveillance equipment can be fixed positioned camera and zoom lenses. Fixed positioned cameras are useful for wide angle shots or limited view applications such as entrances and exits. Zoom lenses are used to increase a quality of captured video by allowing security personnel to zoom in on a small portion of a screen in order to evaluate and/or distinguish elements of the scene in greater detail. For targets that move within in a scene, the zooming function is of limited usefulness, unless the observation direction of the camera can likewise move. Therefore, cameras having zoom lenses are generally mounted on a pan and tilt mechanisms. Such pan and tilt mechanisms are typically controlled via the control command center by the security personnel.
In outdoor applications, an enclosure is employed to protect the camera from precipitation, extremes in temperature and unauthorized tampering. The optical quality of the window or lens through which the camera views its prescribed viewing area must be very good. For fixed position cameras, this window is often flat, typically made of a ballistic material and positioned at one end of a long housing containing the camera power supply, camera body and lens. Advantages of this type of housing include the ability to use window materials that are manufactured in sheet form and to completely seal the enclosure cost effectively using usually with o-rings in a cylindrical-type configuration. Cooling the interior of the sealed unit is usually accomplished by conduction only or by forced convection systems that circulate outside air into the enclosure typically are not used with such operations.
The cylindrical housings typically have the camera fixed within the housing and the housing is then mounted via bracket to a roof surface, a wall, a ceiling, or a overhang of the building. The bracket used for the mounting of these housings usually includes a means for tilting the housing and/or leveling the housing in a fixed positioned within a given range of tilt and pan. However, there are instances in which the housing cannot be positioned such that the camera produces an image that has normal viewing orientation. It would be advantageous to have a housing which would allow for the easy orientation of the camera despite a non-level positioning of the housing.
Also, with such housings which are permitted to tilt, at times the wiring and cables running into the housing for controlling the camera and providing the video output can be exposed as the housing is tilted on its bracket. It would be advantageous to have a bracket which would allow for the tilting of the housing yet keep the wiring inaccessible to persons attempting to damage the surveillance unit. Lastly, when dealing with fixed position surveillance cameras, the lens assemblies on the units are frequently spray painted or otherwise damaged by vandals. The lens material is usually constructed of a ballistic material which is expensive. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a protective shield which is readily replaceable so that if the unit were spray painted, the protective shield would bear the brunt of the attack protecting the ballistic lens.
The present invention is a housing assembly permitting the adjustable positioning a surveillance camera enclosed therein after the housing is mounted. The housing assembly comprises a housing having a cylindrical camera opening therein for receiving the surveillance camera, camera sled, and a detachable lens assembly. The camera sled holds the surveillance camera and is slidably receivable in and rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the camera opening. The camera sled includes positioning means for adjustably fixing the position and orientation of the camera sled assembly within the camera opening. The detachable lens assembly encloses the camera sled and surveillance camera within the housing.
In an alternate embodiment the housing assembly further comprises a pan and tilt mechanism which permits the housing assembly to be manually positioned within a predetermined range of pan and tilt and acts as a wireway for the camera cabling. The pan and tilt mechanism is reversible and affords protection to camera wiring passing therethrough even when the housing assembly is fully tilted. In another embodiment of the invention, the lens assembly includes a replaceable protective transparent shield for the lens. The lens and protective shield can be made from non-ballistic or ballistic grade materials.